World of Weird Al Yankovic

Bruce the Duck wrote:Actually, now that you mention it, Plympton MIGHT have been able to do something worth while with "My Own Eyes." The lyrics to the song song really aren't about anything other than a whole lot of really ridiculous mental images.

I almost used that as my example, but then decided EYKIW is probably the Al song that is most like what Plympton does on his own.

I actually don't mind the videos for DDTS and TMZ, but I think a lot of what people had problems with was that it was the first video released since "It's All About The Pentiums" (or "Bob" if you count that), so people had been waiting a really long time for a new video. And up until that point, all of Al's videos had been high budget live action, or high quality animated (JP). Plus, since CAGZ, with the exception of JP, all videos were directed by Al and he was very involved in them, paying a lot of attention to detail. Al also really hyped up how awesome the CP video would have been, so there were high expectations going into whatever the next video would have been. Then, all of a sudden, here comes this pencil sketch video that Al had little to no involvement in, that looked more like a homemade fan video you'd see on YouTube, and it was a bit of a letdown. Really, it was a combination of all these things and Bill Plympton being the wrong guy at the wrong time and he became the scapegoat.

Dave

All great points, Dave! Has anyone ever heard Plympton (or Al) talk about the DDTS video? I really do wonder if that is the finished product as he intended or if he ran out of time before he could color in all the frames? The latter would make sense since the very first scene is fully colored and it just suddenly turns into pencil sketch for no apparent reason.

I feel Plympton would be a great match for Pancreas?

I keep feeling like I remember an Al quote around the time of SOL where he said that some of the videos the animators brought in weren't really what he was expecting, which I always took as a diplomatic way of saying he wasn't thrilled with all of them. But I've never been able to track down the quote, and it probably wasn't related to Plympton since he brought him back for "TMZ."

TMBJon wrote:I really do wonder if that is the finished product as he intended or if he ran out of time before he could color in all the frames? The latter would make sense since the very first scene is fully colored and it just suddenly turns into pencil sketch for no apparent reason.

I've always felt this way--I don't think there's a story problem with the DDTS video at all, the way there is with "TMZ" and its aforementioned obsession with one particular line in the song. But I can't imagine the sudden black-and-white being a conscious decision--it makes everything look like it's a friggin' flipbook.

Black-and-white means more dramatic. The RIAA was so stern they drained all the color from the video.

PlayAWarGame wrote:Black-and-white means more dramatic. The RIAA was so stern they drained all the color from the video.

Well, I would believe it if Al or Plympton said it was a deliberate choice because the pencil sketch effect does start the exact moment the RIAA arm punches through the TV.
But as a Post Supervisor, I've dealt with a lot of animated art that is a work in progress, and it usually does look exactly like DDTS in the first round before it gets approved and the artist can start inking.

anthontherun wrote:I keep feeling like I remember an Al quote around the time of SOL where he said that some of the videos the animators brought in weren't really what he was expecting, which I always took as a diplomatic way of saying he wasn't thrilled with all of them.

This is interesting because on the Comedy Death Ray podcast last week, Al said he brought on the artist for Pancreas based on the work he'd done for Michael Jackson, and he was underwhelmed with what he turned in for Pancreas. So he may have been referring to that specifically. Frankly, none of the SOL animated videos are particularly good. I guess Weasel Stomping Day is the best of them.

Pancreas was disgustingly bad. I prefer TMZ

No one likes anything.